Value of circular RNA 0007385 in disease monitoring and prognosis estimation in non–small‐cell lung cancer patients

Objective This study aimed to assess the circular RNA_0007385 (hsa_circ_0007385) expression in tumor/adjacent non‐tumor tissues, and the correlation of its tumor expression with clinicopathological features as well as survival in non–small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods 210 NSCLC patients who underwent tumor resection were reviewed in this retrospective study. 210 tumor specimens and 81 paired adjacent specimens were collected, in which the hsa_circ_0007385 expression was detected by reverse transcription‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were recorded, and the last follow‐up date was June 30, 2019. Results Hsa_circ_0007385 was upregulated in tumor tissue compared with adjacent non‐tumor tissue ( P  < .001), and ROC curve analysis revealed that hsa_circ_0007385 expression had an excellent value in distinguishing tumor tissue from adjacent non‐tumor tissue with an area under curve of 0.922 (95% CI: 0.890‐0.953). Tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression correlated with lymph node metastasis ( P  = .007) and higher TNM stage ( P  = .004). In addition, DFS ( P  = .028) and OS ( P  = .008) were both less favorable in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression compared to patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 low expression. Besides, the DFS ( P  = .008) and OS ( P  = .012) were also the worst in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high+++ expression, followed by patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high++ expression and patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high + expression, and the best in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 low expression. Multivariate regression analysis elucidated that tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression independently predicted worse OS ( P  = .033). Conclusion Tumor hsa_circ_0007385 could be a novel biomarker for disease monitoring and prognosis prediction in NSCLC patients.